


Eiji the Cat

by lemon_and_chai



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-05
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-11-13 16:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_and_chai/pseuds/lemon_and_chai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by The Brilliant Green's "Brownie the Cat". And no, Eiji does not turn into a cat in this fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pink Ice-Cream

_When I saw you sitting there_

_On your yellow flower chair_

_You were eating pink ice cream_

_I fell in love with you_

* * *

"Ooo-ishi!"

A heavy weight descended onto Oishi's back with a thump, and in reaction to what he knew was coming, he curved his arms down and around the two kitty-like legs that had gripped his sides. Eiji snuggled his face against Oishi's short hair, his arms clasping loosely around his partner's neck and shoulders. Despite the sudden bouncy glomp, experience helped Oishi keep his balance.

"Eiji!" he still charged, knowing that if he didn't reprimand a little now, some other victim of Eiji's giddy huggles wouldn't be so capable - not that this would stop him.

"Hehen, Nya! Oishi is snuggly!" Eiji's voice was as energetic as ever, and Oishi was sure a watermelon smile currently graced the red-head's face. The thought of being 'snuggly' brought heat into his upper cheeks.

Eiji craned his head forward, and sure enough, Oishi could see the beaming watermelon smile was really there. "Okay! Let's go to practice!"

"Like this?!" Eiji was heavier than he looked; his leaps and bounces on the court were deceptive as to the true effect gravity had on him.

"Yay! GO!" Eiji shot one fist into the air in excitement, a declaration of departure, using the other one to help stabilize the piggy-back.

Oishi felt a sweat drop cover his expression, and looked up to give Eiji an I'll-never-make-it speech -

"Oh, Eiji! You have ice-cream on your face." Sure enough, cuspy pink splotches were all around his lips and cheeks.

"Nya?!" A cat-like expression of surprise seemed to match the way he pawed his face, his mouth forming a little 'o' as he realized it was true.

"Waaaa! But I ate that ice-cream over two hours ago!" he pouted, "Nyaaa Fuji was just giggling all during class! He didn't even say anything!"

Oishi found himself chuckling, forming a mixed expression of amusement and concern. He bet the tensai had gone to great lengths in order to insure no well-meant comment from any of their classmates would spoil his fun.

"Did Fuji bring you the ice cream?"

"Nope!" exclaimed Eiji, already exuberantly cheerful despite the remaining patches of cream he'd missed on his nose and lower lip. "A girl in our class brought a biiiiiig tub of Neapolitan ice-cream during lunch! I only ate strawberry, though."

Oishi couldn't help but smile at the thought of his ever-springy doubles partner digging a tiny wooden paddle spoon into a large bin of brown, white, and pink, quickly and possessively so no one would have a chance to sneak any of his precious strawberry ice-cream, stuffing it ungraciously into his puffed up mouth. A cold smoothness would have coated his tongue and inner cheeks, instantly warmed by the ever-flowing energy swirling rapidly through all parts of the acrobat's body. Strawberries suited the red-head pretty well.

He remembered the first time they had gone somewhere to eat, to a homely cafe not too far from school. He had kept his order down to coffee and macadamia nut biscotti, but Eiji had ordered a ridiculously large three-scoop ice-cream special topped with fresh strawberries, caramel, peanut bits, and of course whip cream. That time too it had ended with half that whip cream reaching Eiji's face but not his mouth. He also recalled that it was that time that the abnormality had occurred. As they were waiting for their order, the red-head had been shy and dilute, talking dully about some nonsensical lack of clouds and other orders of academia. He had not liked the missing energy and willfulness he usually saw Eiji with at school. The happy moon beams of nyas and purrs had been vacant. Oishi had felt cheated, denied of the explicit bubblyness that was showered upon everyone else. But that had only lasted until they received their orders. He smiled nostalgically, still not knowing what had gone through the acrobat's head at that time. He definitely liked this cheerful Eiji better.

"You're late for practice, sempai-tachi." The calm, condescending tone could belong to none other than Seigaku's youngest regular.

"Ochibi!" Eiji abandoned his turtle-shell position on Oishi in order to cup the scornful freshman into an exuberant glomp.

"Ooouf- sempai get off!" Eiji's shining eyes and smile completely missed Echizen's obvious annoyance. Oishi could only smile.

"But really, you guys are late. I have permission to be since I had to run some errands for the library club..."

Oishi checked his watch, gulping. At Seigaku, even ten minutes of tardiness could be fatal.

"Forty laps." Cold, hard, and impassive, Seigaku's buchou gave no mercy, even to his usually reliable vice captain.

"Nyaaa," Eiji cried, sounding like a kitten whining at the door to be let in, but he began the trek anyways.

For the umpteenth time that day, Oishi found his lips drawn into a smile. He didn't mind running even a hundred laps, if it was with Eiji.


	2. Shooting Stars

_And you took me to your house_

_Among blue marshmallow clouds_

_And we waved at shooting stars_

_We fell in love that day_

* * *

"Yay! Today the sky is blue!" Eiji's heart felt just as cheerful as the sky. The last few weeks had been fun; the Golden Pair had done exceptionally well at the prefecture tournament, dropping at most two games to Fudoumine's Uchimura-Mori pair. It had been pretty fun to tease the short one, who was astonished at all the bazaar and seemingly impossible ways Eiji caught the ball. The capped boy had seemed so cocky too. Nye heh heh.

Next to him, the one who helped him earn all those victories smiled gently. Oishi's presence was as calming as ever.

"Unya! That cloud looks like an Oishi head!" he suddenly exclaimed. Drifting out behind a large Honda Civic ad, a dark cloud had somehow folded itself into a perfect egg shape. Eiji sparkled with excitement at his marvelous discovery.

"Cl..cloud?!" Oishi sputtered, the mask of calm wiped off his face in an instant. The shade of his cheeks seemed to darken. Eiji suddenly worried if his Oishi had maybe caught a fever. That would be bad! Sure, they had the next day off, but Eiji had wanted to spend it out with Oishi shopping and eating and bouncing. But if Oishi was sick... well, he didn't want to bother him. He probably already bothered him enough, being so bouncy and chatty. He couldn't help it.

He had tried acting serious once, acting mature and adult-like so that Oishi would like him more. He had sat nervously across from Oishi at the cafe, their first ever eating-together time. He had been careful not to cross his legs, tried to keep a straight face (though his expression came out like a half-strangled cat), and talk about maturish things like world peace and economic prosperity and rising global sunnyness. He had tried really really really really really really hard, but it was exhausting, and it made his forehead hurt, so he gave up and went back to being bouncy and cheerful.

He pouted, his lower lip puckering out a bit in a small whispered 'nyaa'. Oishi was so nice, and kind, and mature, and grown-up, and perfect, and wonderful, how could he ever measure up? Of course, it was much much funner to be bouncy, and to tease his teammates, especially Ochibi who was little and cute and glompable. But Oishi was so caring, and everybody liked him, and he was thoughtful and worried about everything. Some people compared him to a mother, but Eiji felt that Oishi was just... Oishi.

"Hm..." The gentle voice of the one he was thinking about seemed almost musical today. "Then... that cloud over there looks like Eiji!" Oishi pointed to a very white cloud that was round at the bottom, had two side-by-side hills at the top, and jagged wisps coming off either side, similar to Eiji's hair but almost more like whiskers.

Eiji perked up immediately, a rush of joy leaping into his eyes and widening his smile. "Yay! I like looking at the sky with Oishi!"

No doubt this time. Oishi definitely looked more red than usual. But his growing smile assured the red-head that nothing was wrong.

"Oh, I know!" Oishi's tone seemed particularly happy. "I read in the papers that there is going to be a meteor shower tonight." He turned towards his partner with a grin, and Eiji beamed in anticipation. "Would you like to come over to my house and watch it on the roof? ... O-or we can go to your house! ..ah.. I mean, either house is fine, or if you just want to go to sleep-"

"I wanna go!" Eiji cried. "Um, nya, hoi, to Oishi's roof!"

Oishi laughed. Eiji loved Oishi's laugh. It was kind, open, honest. It was everything that Oishi was. It tasted even better than strawberries.

* * *

The sun had set several hours ago, whisking away Eiji's beloved blue from the grip of the sky. But that was alright. Replacing it came the glittering lights of distant stars and planets.

This sky was wonderful too. For one, it's color always reminded him of Oishi - dark, gentle, like a thick blanket that wrapped around the world and through its warmth sent them all to sleep. Yeah, the same color as Oishi's hair. He giggled, imagining that if Oishi's head was the sky, then his face was the Earth, and his body was the universe, and everything around him was infinity and far away. Eiji lived in the universe, and that meant he lived in Oishi. _Nyeh?_ There was something kinda weird about that. He giggled to himself again.

The two of them had crawled up to the highest part of Oishi's roof - with the help of a ladder, of course, though Eiji had proclaimed he could make it up the large fir tree in Oishi's yard, his partner had hurriedly insisted that they take the safest way using the extended metal ladder. He had even had his mother come out to hold it and in case of emergency if someone fell. Eiji pointed out that even if he did fall, he could easily land on his feet at that distance, but the wrinkles of concern across Oishi's brow had been matched by his mother who of course insisted as well.

Now they sat side by side, eyes turned up into the star-lit infinity overhead. Oishi had brought at a large cotton blanket, saying it would probably be cold out so late at night. Eiji didn't feel cold at all, but he liked being snuggled under the same blanket as Oishi so he easily obliged. Besides, he liked the blanket it was covered in tiny brown bears holding tennis rackets, and every other one had a cartoon word bubble over its head reading "Hello!" or "Good Morning!" or "Good Night!".

"Nah, Eiji," said Oishi. "Are you alright? Are you cold, or do you want something to eat? I can ask Mom to get another blanket, or bring up some crackers. Oh, I think we have strawberry daifuku, would you like that?" Worry covered his ever gently visage and pushed away his smile. But Oishi was always like that.

"Nn-n," Eiji shook his head rabidly from left to right. "I'm good! Ah, I'd like strawberry daifuku, but let's eat it later! After the meteors!" He didn't want Oishi to move from where he was under the blanket.

"Alright, but is there something you'd like me to do?"

_To do?_ Eiji tilted his head to the side in thought. If he had had a tail, then at that moment it would be wagging.

"Mmmmm... mmmm..." his eyebrows pressed together with thought. "I'd like Oishi to... to... hm..."

Oishi chuckled. "It's okay, we'll just wait here for the meteor shower, then." He checked his watch. "According to the article, we should be able to see something in a few moments..."

For what seemed like forever, they sat, maybe a half racket length apart, Oishi with his knees bent but legs mostly pressed out and his hands against the roof behind him to balance, and Eiji with his knees drawn closer to his chest and his arms forming a circle around his shins. The night seemed peculiarly quiet, like the night before Christmas in that song, where not even mice were stirring. Together they sat, as if anticipating all the grandiose presents that would surely be under the fir tree in the morning.

Then, almost unnoticeably, a tiny speck of light shifting rapidly amidst the stationary specks caught his attention. It could not escape the vision of the best eyes in all of Seigaku.

"Nyaaa!" Eiji cried, "Oishi, there!" But by the time he pointed to the speck of light, it was already gone. But that didn't matter, because suddenly dozens and dozens of lights were traveling everywhere, and both the doubles pair gaped in awe at the celestial vision. Eiji beamed, then turned and caught the look on Oishi's face.

Astonishing. Now he gaped, not at the hundreds of stars that were raining down around them, but at the priceless image he beheld before him. Oishi stood, with the sparkling sky around him, as if trying to call him back to the heavens where he actually belonged, an expression of pure fascination sculpted into his face, like that of a child who saw a rainbow for the first time in his life. Eiji had never seen Oishi's face without any touch of worry, any blemish of concern or intense consideration for those around him. This countenance, this Oishi, full of innocent life untainted by the weight of social responsibility, was completely new to acrobatic player. This Oishi was truly, absolutely, golden.

"Eiji!" His excited cry ripped through the red-head's mind, calling him back to the ground from which he had somehow departed. "Make sure to make a wish!"

"O-oh!" He had forgotten the most important thing one must do when he sees a shooting star!

Then... what he wanted was... what he wished for was...

He thought of strawberries, of teddy bears, of tennis, of blue skies, and everything he liked or had or wanted. He thought of Oishi, looking at him with concern, then of Oishi, looking blissfully at the streams of light which rippled against the dark universe.

_I want Oishi to... I want him to... no. I just want Oishi._

As the sky poured down around them, Eiji felt in his heart something that had never been there before. One tiny star had nestled in his chest, stinging and biting its way into the unknown depths of his emotions. For the first time, he felt a little sad.


	3. Here by Your Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back to Oishi! The time has moved forward again, and we're past the St. Rudolf matches. The takes place right after the matches, and the first dialogue is from the end of episode 36. Oh yeah, and I know Eiji's eyes are blue - but for this fic, they're green. So there.

_Never knew someone like you_

_With your eyes you make me smile_

_If you leave me I'll be blue_

_Let me stay here by your side_

* * *

"Oishi, this will be our last time here."

Eiji looked over at him and they both smiled. "We'll win all the matches from now and go on!"

"Go on to where?" Oishi asked, standing. There was something...

"Isn't it obvious? Prefecturals, Kantou regional, and then of course the Nationals! Number One!" Both the red-head's arms waved excitingly in the air, his voice rising with charged anticipation.

Something was there, but Oishi couldn't tell what it was.

"Yay! As an apology for having to sleep during the match, let's go get boba!" 

Without waiting for an acknowledging reply, he bounded towards the end of the large green bin they were standing upon, then turned as if to walk backwards. Then suddenly his foot caught the metal edge and he started to fall back -

"Eiji!"

\- and then spun 360 degrees in a perfect Olympian gesture, to land tartly on his feet. His knees untucked and he stood gallantly, both arms poised out like a crane. "Ten!" he declared.

Oishi sighed, his hand gripping at his overburdened chest. He quickly regained his composer, and applauded the show-off. Eiji's antics always worried him, but they also made him smile.

"Nya! And the fee for the show is, Oishi gets to treat!"

Mouth gaping, he tried to spark a protest, but was met by 'But Momo and Echizen made me use up all my money on burgers!' so out of necessity he had to agree. Oh well, he felt like something cool anyways, and despite their loss Seigaku's team had won overall, so the day deserved a little celebration.

* * *

The Boba & Tea Pavilion was unusually busy, with a small squad of youngsters dashing about like tiny imitation ninjas on a mission to make a mess. Oishi found himself helping the store owner persuade them to continue the game outside so that they could order. He stared longingly at his wallet, wondering exactly how their going out was 'an apology'. In the meantime, Eiji somehow found the patience to hold still for the few minutes it took to mix the flavors.

"Nyah?! What's this?!" He stuck out his tongue, more in surprise than disgust.

"What's wrong?" Oishi asked, sucking up spongy black pearls along with honey-laced milk tea. As the cold, sweet liquid slightly stung the back of his mouth and throat, he realized how exhausted he still was from today's match. That was to be expected, though, considering how he'd had to play entirely by himself for so many minutes.

"Well, since Oishi ordered Honey, I thought I'd try it too, so I asked for Honey Dew cause I thought it might be more special, but the master got my order wrong! This tastes like melon!"

Oishi wasn't sure whether to be shocked or amused.

"Oh! But I like melon too, so it's okay! It just wasn't what I expected."

Laughter finally broke through his restraints, and he turned his head away so his partner wouldn't think he was making fun of him. It was mean to tease people, after all.

Yes, there was definitely something, but he wasn't sure what it was.

It would have bothered him, but Eiji was being so bouncy that he was bothered more with the worry that the red-head would bounce into the street and get hit by a car. Eiji was the type who'd come across an almost-empty road, then wait for the only car coming down it to almost reach his crossing spot, then suddenly dash across just to prove he could make it first. The way that cats did. Oishi shivered at the thought of road kill.

His thoughts began to tangent further and further away from the road they strolled on. If such a thing were to happen, if Eiji were to die... no, somehow, he just couldn't picture it. It just couldn't happen. Simply the prospect made him cringingly sad.

Outside Eiji had taken up arms with the elementary kids still running amok. Oishi thought it was awfully late for them to be out by themselves, and looked around for a supervising adult. His partner in tennis seemed to have transformed into a partner in crime, fitting in well with the small ones as if his mentality was at their level. They were pulling their straws in and out of the plastic-covered cups with their fingers, as if to trap something on the tips.

"Eiji, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm teaching them how to shoot boba at cars!" Eiji beamed.

"Eiji!" Oishi's mouth and eyes widened with horror. "That's not very nice! You could damage the vehicles! And you certainly shouldn't teach that to children!"

"Nyeeeeh, but that's what you _do_ with boba. I mean, otherwise it gets in the way of the drink! You don't want me to choke, right Oishi?"

"Eiji." His head began to feel an intense pressure. He sighed, then pulled himself together and spent the next ten minutes lecturing the children on proper behavior and social laws then ordered them all to go home.

Eiji pouted sadly at the departure of his new friends. "Nyah, and I was trying so hard to turn them into respectable adults."

Again, the raven head let out a sigh as they too started out for home. Eiji was always like that, bouncy, playful, thoughtless. For as long as he had known him, the other had never let anything bring him down, not for too long, anyways. He was like a stray cat in a world full of cages, the energetic, sky-bound partner that he had chosen to play tennis with. Oishi had never met anyone like him.

Maybe that was why he worried so much, why he always took the time to correct the acrobat and look after any of his messes, somehow never loosing patience. No matter what Eiji did, Oishi could always forgive him with a smile, the moment he saw those clear straightforward eyes glancing at him.

He didn't want the ever buoyant red head to be tied down by anything; so he had decided to take all the ropes of social requirement and physical boundary and tie them to himself. Then Eiji could float up above the buildings, without ever having to worry that someone would shoot him down. He would never lose his smile, he would never age and grow old, he would never even lose at his beloved tennis, not truly lose. Maybe he would loose in terms of points and games, but his spirit would always bounce back, the victor over all miseries.

"Eiji, I... never mind."

Eiji looked up at him questioningly, his large green eyes shimmering with youthfulness, then continued trotting on. Oishi recalled what he had once read in a manga, a line describing a particular cat's green eyes as precious emeralds, glittering from the depths of a great desert. But Eiji's eyes weren't anything like that. They weren't dry like a desert, or cold like a gem; they were bright, playful, full of sunlight and glory. Only by looking at them he felt as if he had surpassed even the most innate faults of human nature. He loved Eiji's eyes.

He breathed out deeply, a frosty air forming in reaction. That was it. That was the thing dangling on the edge of his mind, prancing through the gray matter and tickling his normal fears into something surreal. He loved Eiji.

He smiled, watching as the one held his heart skipped merrily on without him.

"Oishi...?" Eiji turned, suddenly noticing his doubles partner had not followed him.

Oishi then gave his truest, most heart warming smile, as he once again beheld the eyes of his beloved. He felt comfortable giving away his heart to them. Even if Eiji never realized, even if he never returned his feelings, it wouldn't matter. Oishi was just happy to be next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boba - bubble tea, tapioca balls
> 
> All the boba ideas come from way back in the day, when my friends and I were addicted to boba. Yes, I had friends that blew boba at cars. ^^; As for the Honey Dew... that's a kind of melon, but when I first tried it I got caught in the same thing (I thought it would taste like honey). It was a big shock. Then I got laughed at. -__-;


	4. Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Eiji! I feel like I identify much better with Eiji than with Oishi. I've been getting comments that the Golden Pair seems to have switched roles: in some ways, this is true. I think that deep down, Eiji is actually a very thoughtful person, so I wanted him to seem like a layered cake with seriousness at the bottom and bounciness on the top where everyone can see. Oishi on the other hand worries greatly on the outside, but inside he is trusting and confident that those around him are happy. He worries and thus takes care of things right away. I wanted to portray an Oishi who was very understanding. I don't think I've done a very good job, though. ;; I hope things will be better in the future.
> 
> Have you ever been in love like this? I have, this total infatuation with someone is really horrible. You can't control anything about yourself! You feel nervous because of course you want to look good in front of the person you like, but instead you just end up looking more stupid. Poor Eiji! But no matter what Eiji does, of course he will still look cute!
> 
> Buchou is Japanese for captain. This is how the Regulars usually address Tezuka.

_You took me inside your dream_

_To a moon of cheese and cream_

_To star light we ate till dawn_

_I fell in love with you_

* * *

Sadness, and a pining star. Seigaku's one and only acrobatic styled player knotted his forehead in strained contemplation. From the time he had spent with Oishi watching stars until now, he had pretty much been the same, except that a tiny tinge of heat seemed to glance over his heart every so often. He was sure it hadn't been there before. He kept thinking about it, and thinking about Oishi, that expression of childish glee he swore he'd seen through the dazzling star light. The more he thought about it, the weirder he felt.

Weird. Yup, that was it. He was feeling weird. It was kind of annoying. On top of that, it was getting him into trouble.

"...eiji..."

His mind failed to notice the whisper tickling his ear.

"... EIJI!"

"Nyaaaa! ... Hoi?!" He shot up in surprise and almost knocked heads with his leaned over smiling friend. Fuji was cruel to sneak up on him then scream directly in his ear!

"Eiji, you shouldn't space out like that." On his other side came the concerned voice of the club's vice president. Eiji looked up to see his partner's frown-adorned face, but in his mind's eye that face was replaced by the gleaming visage from before.

From the bottom of his gut, he felt the tinge of heat grow. "Oh Oishi! I wa-s...just...em...th..." What was wrong with him?! Suddenly he felt really nervous, and his voice was trembling, and it came out sounding way, way too high! "Th...that is..." Cold sweat began to pearl upon his upper lip. "Th-there," he pointed to the first thing he saw. "-baboon!"

Blank stares followed his out pointed figure, tracing the visual line to the scowling stone face of Seigaku's ever stoic captain. Eiji gulped, his body frozen. He had meant to say _buchou_ , but somehow ... well, obviously that had come out _wrong_.

"40 laps. Now." The deep voice practically hissed.

"Haaaaiii!" Eiji took off immediately, feeling a blush creep up around the edge of his face. His eyes squinted closed in panic and frustration. Running laps was better than facing Oishi right now, with the way he was, just babbling and embarrassing himself. Why had he suddenly lost the ability to speak normally? Now Oishi probably thought he was really weird!

Once he got the chance, he decided to consult his best friend about it. That afternoon he could be found chatting with Fuji, whispering (but rather loudly) since they were in class. "Moouuu, it's like, first I'm sad, then I'm angry because I don't want to be sad, then I feel nervous because I'm angry, and then I just end up making a fool out of myself! And then I go back to being happy just because I can but then before I know it I'm sad again and then Fuji just what is wrong with me?!"

His best friend laughed, as if he knew the answers to the infinity of questions always asked about the universe. "Oh Eiji, you're just pmsing! Don't worry, it'll pass."

"PMSing?! Like a girl?! But that's what Mom always says Nee-chan's doing when she dumps her boyfriend! ...though they get back together again by the end of the week."

The tensai smiled. "Well, usually it's something that happens to a girl when her hormones change, but it's also a sign that you're falling in love."

"L-love?!" Seriously?! Like, love as in the love that was in his Mom's evening dramas? Love as in the poems on those hallmark cards, that always rhymed nicely but didn't make any sense? Love as in the boy from Titanic, who told that girl to never let go and then she did? All sorts of images from various animated Disney movies flashed through is head. What exactly did Fuji mean by love?

"Eiji, isn't it because you're in love with Oishi?"

The red-head suddenly hacked as if trying to cough up a hairball. "P-p-p-" He didn't know what he was trying to say, but it wasn't like he could get past all the stuttering anyways. He suddenly realized he was standing in the middle of the lecture. "Please excuse me!" he piped in a feeble attempt to pacify his teacher's diamond-hard stare which said sit down and shut up already.

That night found him tossing and turning. Even when he squeezed his favorite teddy bear and kicked off his blankets, he still felt warm and uncomfortable. He couldn't even think about what Fuji had been talking about before. It didn't really make any sense - he wasn't very good at poetry and he had never given Oishi a rose before or anything like that. So what was Fuji talking about?

Finally he managed to fall asleep. But the restlessness followed even into his dreams.

* * *

"Nya?!"

After waking up with a start, his covers flew forcefully up from his bed as his arms swung widely in panic, and a heavy thud could be heard downstairs as a body smacked unexpectedly onto the carpet. If Eiji had been standing at the moment, he might have done a half flip.

_What was that?! That that that dream!_

"Ei-chan, are you up?" called his mother's voice from downstairs. She must've been getting ready to leave for work.

There was no one to see he had fallen off the bed, but he pulled himself up quickly anyways, blushing furiously as he thought about last night. Just what sort of dream was that?! As he quickly replaced his sunshine yellow pjs with Seigaku's uniform he wondered desperately how he could face Oishi after such a thing. He... and Oishi... and Oishi had... the blushing was almost unbearable! Slowly he forced his breathing to even out and took deep gulps of air to calm down.

Morning. Seigaku. Practice. No matter what was going on, there was no way he'd miss practice for his favorite activity right? All the regulars were like that. So glompable, and so addicted to tennis.

"Good morning!" Fuji's voice.

"Mornin'" Momo's voice.

"Che." Echizen's murmur.

"Hey, good morning, Eiji." Suddenly the whole world seemed to freeze in place. This voice Eiji knew even better than the others.

He turned slowly, his neck cranking in bits like an old fashioned wooden doll. Oishi's gentle eyes and smile fixed into place before him.

"Good mor- mor- mor-"

The images from last night's dream flashed to the front of his brain. His eyes sunk down towards the ground and he fixated on the nearest pebble.

"...mornin' Oishi..." He somehow managed to mutter. His feet tottered off towards the locker rooms. Something in the back of his mind whispered that his doubles partner was still there, walking next to him, but he definitely wasn't going to look up enough to check. He could kind of tell by looking at different shoes where everyone was. His arms and lips continued to tremble slightly, and the heat from his rapidly beating heart began to spread out to the rest of his body. His face, he was sure, must have been growing close to the color of his hair.

He spent the whole practice like that. Not that he could really play tennis while looking down, but he couldn't seem to quell his nervousness, even when twisting into his favorite positions and smacking the balls into the most unpredictable places around the court.

Lunchtime was no better. Just the thought of eating next to Oishi brought ravishing recollections of the two of them together, in his dream... Kyaaa! No no no, he mustn't think about it! Rather than at the Golden Pair's usual meeting place on the roof, the redhead was seen stalking around the faucets, pacing back and forth the way a grumpy cat waited to be let inside.

"Eiji! This is where you've been" - of course his faithful Oishi had gone to look for him - "I've been looking all over for you! And today you've been acting really strange" - so he _had_ noticed - "I was really worried. You look really red," - anyone would be red in this kind of heat! - "Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever?"

All of a sudden, Eiji became aware of a concerned hand rising towards him, drawing closer and closer to his face at an alarming speed, almost brushing against the bangs that dangled loosely against his sweat-beaded forehead...

"Wait, Oish- NYA!" Just as the back of Oishi's hand was about to reach its target above the acrobat's eyes, both of Eiji's hands shot out in panic, shoving the surprised altruist backwards and into the nearest bush.

"O-Oishi!" What had he done?! "I'm sor- sor- sor-"

He gave up, and ran off crying. Had he looked back, he would have seen his stunned tennis partner still sitting amidst the hedge's leaves and twigs, blinking rapidly and blankly.

Somehow, he lived through the rest of the lunch period, and continued crying with his head laid flat on top of Fuji's desk.

"Eiji," Fuji said with a twitching smile, unable to ignore their teacher's glares of get-him-to-shut-up-already, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Fuuuuuji," Eiji meowed, seemingly oblivious to the various death sparks being sent at him from the front of the classroom, "I just can't face Oishi today!" He tried to bury his face in the wood. "This is your fault you know, because you said those things to me yesterday I had that weird dream and now every time I see Oishi I remember it and then I can't help but feel really really hot and even Momo said I was as red as a beet and I don't even like beets!"

The tennis tensai wanted very much to talk calmly with his best friend about his emotional struggles, but the glare of daggers from an impatient history professor were making his eyebrows tick. Still, his smile stayed as gentle as ever.

"Eiji," he said in his most motherly tone (out of nowhere he came up with one), "We'll talk about this after class."

"Hoooii."

It was a bit disconcerting for everyone to sit through the next two hours through classical history and logarithmic functions as well as muffled sniffs and sobs (which were loud despite being muffled), but a few flashes of cerulean stares managed to fend off any unnecessary comments. No one messed with an open-eyed Fuji.

Finally the last bell sounded and the rest of class 6 scurried quickly off to the places they wanted to go.

Fuji smiled anticipatively at his best friend, feeling that today as well he'd get to witness something cute. "So Eiji, now-"

"I was a duck."

"...huh?"

Eiji slowed down a bit to give his friend a few moments to process.

"Well... you see, in my dream, I was a duck."

Fuji frowned, but his eyes remained closed. "A duck?"

"Yes. A blue duck."

"Um... I see. ...So what does this have to do with Oishi?"

"Well, that's the thing. I was a blue duck, swimming around in a lake. I was just swimming around and then Oishi came over and... _kissed_ me, and then I turned into a princess and then-" he blushed, ducking down his head in embarrassment. "well, we went up to the Moon Palace and ate choco crust raspberry swirl cheesecake together and lived happily ever after."

Silence. Fuji's eyebrows had somehow begun to knot together. "And so...what happened then?"

"Then?" Now Eiji was inquisitive. "I woke up, of course. It was The End. ... ah, but I mean really Fuji, he ...Oishi, he kissed me! Even if I was a duck, and I guess it's okay to kiss ducks because they're animals and pets are animals and it's okay to kiss pets, but it's just really embarrassing-"

"Pft, hahahahaha," Fuji let out a laugh that he had obviously been trying to hold. "Eiji, that's nothing to be embarrassed about! It's only a kiss. I so sure that he would have bleeeep and then bleeeeep and then you know bleeep." His blue eyes vanished into crescents as he smiled sweetly.

"Fu- ah- chi" Eiji knew his face must have reached the color of his hair this time, as the burning heat poured into his visage's skin and even spread down his neck and to the back of his ears. Feeling like he'd catch on fire any second, he raced from the room, completely missing the surprised, raven-headed tennis player who stood just within the doorway.

Eiji let the sink water pour into his hair and drench his skin and clothes. He didn't really know what Fuji meant by all his bleeping, but it made him really embarrassed. If it was something Fuji had thought of, then it was probably something ecchi. The tensai never exhibited limits when it came to subjects for teasing.

Around him the noon air began to singe against his wet skin, stripping off the moisture and heat and leaving behind a placid sense of relief. He sighed uncharacteristically, going over everything that had happened that day. Oishi was probably worried as well. He always worried about people, way more than was healthy, Eiji was sure. He had come to know his doubles partner pretty well in the last three years.

Three years was a long time, especially considering how young he was, it was a pretty big portion of his life time. When he had first met Oishi he thought he was a terribly serious person. Or at least he seemed serious in comparison to Eiji, who was always jumping and diving and spinning without a care in the world. Oishi was completely different - he cared about many things, maybe even everything, which seemed to be way way way too much. But he was nice and though his worrying could get a little annoying at times he always had the best intentions. Eiji had liked the way that he mothered after things, always watchful of the other regular's well-being, careful to make sure he never did something offensive or hurt someone's feelings. That was why when they met at the cafe he had tried to act serious as well.

But in reality, consideration was not one of Kikumaru Eiji's abilities. Not that he liked to fail at things, but it wasn't very fun to act like someone other than himself. Nyah, oh well. He stuck his tongue out at the thoughts. Oishi still hung out with him even when he stayed himself, so it didn't really matter anymore. And now he knew that Oishi also had his weak sides, an affinity for playfulness, an occasional moment of aggression; if he needed to, for the sake of his team and the people he cared about, Oishi could charge forward with absolute determination, displaying an extraordinary vigor in both tennis and life.

Somehow, Eiji knew that surely things would work out. Sure they would! This was _Oishi_ , after all, that he was thinking about. The most understanding, most wonderful person in all the world, or at least in his world, and that was all that mattered. Suddenly he felt all energetic. He still wasn't very confident that he could control himself around Oishi, but surely, surely, surely, things would be okay!

He skipped back to the classroom, for the first time that day feeling an uplifting breeze, his eyes suddenly flooding with enthusiasm.

All that was broken by the scene he saw when sliding the classroom door half open.

The afternoon light splashed halos all around the classroom, gently warming the cultivated air that the room's only two occupants nestled in. On the far side of the class room, the dark haired tennis player whom Eiji had for three years stood beside sat facing away from him in one of the desks, still as though captivated by the light haired angel which shimmered over him, soft honey brown locks falling graciously forward. Meanwhile Fuji's left hand gently caressed the vice captain's few bangs, his neck and upper body craned over the one desktop that separated the two, meeting Oishi in what was surely a kiss beyond anything that could be given to a duck.

Before he knew it, Eiji had already shot down the hall way at full sprinting speed. He couldn't believe it! He understood that Fuji was very pretty and many people compared him to an angel but, Oishi x Fuji?! It sounded like something only _Trixie_ would try...and even then, she would probably fail. He had only been kidding when he pretended he didn't know what love was!

Even if it had been ice cold Tezuka it would have made more sense, since at least he and Oishi had been friends for the longest time and had gone through a lot together as freshman and were always hanging around each other to work on club matters and all. But Fuji? His very best friend?!

Tears streamed down his face in waves. Now he didn't have Oishi to run to, and he didn't even have Fuji. He had almost reached the point where he realized he was all alone, but right then came crashing upon the third next person he would have gone to to whine-

"Ow! Hey what are you-"

"Oochibi!" He cried, wrapping the smaller frame into a tight bear hug. "I sob wasth sniffle nthn sob waaaaaaaa"

"E-Eiji...sem...pai... I..."

He squeezed harder, shaking the freshman as he sobbed, "Ochibi, ochibi, ochibi! Oishi is...Fuji is...waaaaaaaaa"

"...can't...breath..." Bellow him, Echizen was struggling unsuccessfully against his grip, and he seemed to be chocking on something. Eiji ignored it, and clamped harder.

"...bun...trid...sob...speak normlf..nyaeae" He cried like a cat caught outside in the rain.

"...ugh...Ei..." Echizen seemed to shudder almost, then his body just sort of... collapsed, onto the school tile.

"Nya? . . . Ochibi?" Eiji frowned, and the tears (which weren't very serious anyways), stopped abruptly.

Seigaku's youngest regular lay plopped face down on the ground, dead.

Okay, not dead, but Eiji had to carry him piggy back to the nurse's office as an apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I got to say that the Regulars are glompable! V Earlier I was referring to Trixie's fanfiction, [Still Waters](http://yoshikochan.com/tenipuri/fans/trixie/trixie%20-%20still%20waters.htm%22), in which Fuji tries to seduce Oishi and fails (maybe on purpose).
> 
> Ah... what was with the ending? I don't know either. Poor Ryoma, I guess I just like to see Eiji picking on him. I tried to make the scene in the classroom absurdly flowery (in language) since Eiji is seeing things with sparklies all around. I.e. he's completely misinterpreting the moment. ~.~;;


	5. And I wanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Laugh* And I continue on posting this ancient fic. I think the Rikkaidai matches... the _first_ ones, at Regionals, had just occurred. It was 2004, and...

_And I wanna be your girl_

_And give you my credit card_

_I'll take you to paradise_

_You are welcome to my world_

* * *

Oishi was worried. Well, that wasn't too surprising, since he was always worried. It was important that somebody be worried, and considerate to all the dangers and discomforts of the world around. And considering the nature of his doubles partner, he had to have at least enough worry for two. Especially lately.

First, Eiji's performance during practice had been abysmal. While he still showed an absurd flexibility on the courts, his accuracy and concentration seemed to have reached a new low. No balls slipped past him, but after they left his racket, it was up to the scrambling first years to keep track of the flighty projectiles and make sure they actually made it back within the court gates. Then, when he tried to check his partner's temperature, he'd ended up in a hedge. Of course, Eiji might have done that on purpose because he was trying to keep Oishi from catching his illness, but then he had immediately run off, so that didn't seem to be the case. He wasn't mad about it, but it worried him that his favorite acrobat was fumbling through his routine.

Worried, he had gone to class 3-2 to see Eiji, but just as he entered the red-head suddenly dashed past him and out, without even noticing his partner had come to see him.

Since the objective his sortie was now absent, he'd asked Fuji if he knew what was wrong with his partner that day, to which the tensai had told him not to worry, Eiji had apparently just had a weird dream and would be fine after enough time passed. As to Oishi's following inquiry about the contents of this 'dream', all Fuji said he could tell him was that the most detailed part was about cheesecake. Frowning, Oishi had let it slide.

Then Fuji had noticed some twigs caught up in his bangs, probably from when Eiji had pushed him into the bush, and carefully removed them. He thought he heard something of a crash out in the hall, then a several minutes later Momo appeared and abruptly blurted that their youngest Regular had fainted and was in the nurses office. Consistent with his description as the mother of Seigaku, Oishi had hurried to the indicated place, followed by Momo and Fuji, but by the time they arrived they were told Echizen Ryouma had already recovered and left. Oishi sighed in relief, since he'd always thought the tart tennis player was studier than that, and worried that maybe he was becoming anemic.

Afternoon practice was cancelled that day, since Ryuuzaki-sensei had suddenly called in sick and they couldn't find a replacement for her, and by school regulations they couldn't meet without an adult supervisor. Normally this would worry him, but for now he only sighed with relief; it had been a long day. So Oishi headed home, his thoughts turning back to his initial worries about his evanescent partner. Usually they walked home together, but he hadn't seen the redhead anywhere, so he figured that Eiji had just slipped out in the commotion. Had the chibi player really been hurt, Oishi would have stayed with him until his parents arrived, and Eiji didn't have the patience to stick around for that.

It was barely 3 o'clock, but the heat of the sun was already beginning to weaken, drifting off in the wake of a streaming oceanic breeze. Rustling leaves hinted that the trees had fallen into gossip, probably talking about the upcoming heat wave that surely they could sense better than any weather forecaster. A calm looking park sat invitingly on one side of the bright street Oishi walked down, and on the other side small stores lined up with equal enticement, trying to lure afternoon strollers on the way home from day activities, the sirens of the modern world. Except entering meant not death but destitution. Further down, he knew, street vendors would be shouting out their wares at prices more manageable for a middle school student.

He liked this street. Soon he passed the cafe where he and Eiji had had their first outing together. There was also a sports store where he knew Eiji had recently bought shoes and some of the other regulars liked to visit to buy tennis balls and grip tape.

His thoughts drifted back to that first time they had gone out. He recalled that that time also, Eiji had acting unusually tense. Ryuuzaki-sensei had suggested that since they were going to be playing doubles together, they should get to know each other off the courts as well. It was actually Oishi who suggested the place. Something about its quaint, airy atmosphere seemed perfect for the acrobat, like it too had a bountiful cheerfulness crowned around it.

Yet once inside, Eiji had not been cheerful at all, not at first, anyways. He kept looking down at the table, his mouth pushed into an upside down V, like an unhappy cat, huffy and on edge. His knees seemed stuck together, and his hand stuck on top of them, with all of his fingers drawn back into his palms, like he was nervous about something. Then he'd muttered something incoherent, and it took Oishi a while to realize he was discussing one of the science projects they'd recently been assigned. Then the ice cream showed up, and the subject had been tossed out the window, and next thing he knew Eiji was as bright as the center of the galaxy, and he stayed that way for the next two years he'd gotten to know him.

Now that he'd gotten used to the redhead, he wondered if his partner really had been nervous. Usually Eiji was so full of energy and talkativeness, but then he hadn't been, and now that Oishi thought about it, his current behavior seemed to be a relapse of back then. But it was just so rare, Oishi couldn't figure out what it was all about. He had come to accept his companion's flighty nature, and though it was a little hard to empathize with the carefree youth, he'd come to expect it. . . . or rather, he loved it.

Fast forwarding, in the nowadays the two went everywhere together, whenever they both had time, out for snacks or to the amusement park or just to walk. It had become a natural thing.

He knew that he'd loved the free spirit for a very long time, maybe since watching Eiji splatter whip cream on his cheeks in the cafe, and even though he had finally realized it a few weeks ago, nothing had really changed between them. That too was a natural thing.

He passed by several more cafes and boutiques, wondering if maybe he should pay his tennis partner a visit. If so, then he should definitely get a gift, that would surely cheer the acrobat up. He stopped to look at some ceramic animal figures at one of the booths, smiling at a collection of playful cats toying with thread. Then several feet down, a particularly radiant color caught his eye, and he headed over towards one of the venders down the way.

Smiling, he knew he could not pass by without buying what they had to offer.

* * *

Intense grating scratches could be heard coming from the Kikumaru household that afternoon, causing neighbors to close their windows and doors and dog walkers to choose the other side of the street to stroll on. Luckily for the family in question, the only one home was their youngest son, the very perpetrator to the raucous noises.

Eiji felt like the grating came not from his nails but from every nerve in his body. What was this emotion called again? Oh yeah, irritation.

After spending the entire morning blushing giddily and acting foolish, all his usual emotions of vivacity and general blissfulness were completely worn out, leaving him feeling anxious and groggy. He hadn't felt this way since that damn Niou had noticed his bad habit of tilting his racket.

He knew that it was probably a misunderstanding. It wasn't like he'd taken the time to stare carefully at what Oishi and Fuji'd been doing. But still... Oishi probably hated Eiji by now, after all, he _had_ pushed him into a bush, and Fuji was so brilliant at tennis that maybe Oishi wanted him as his new partner now. He just couldn't help but think like that. He knew Fuji would never make a move on Oishi - as his best friend, Fuji knew better than anyone how the redhead felt about his long-time doubles partner, and Fuji was in love with Tezuka-buchou anyways.

But what about Oishi?

_Ding-ding-ding-a-dong._

A sinking feeling in his chest told him it might be better not to answer. Sure enough, the object of his affection-now-turned-to-irritation stood patiently beyond the peep hole, a whitish plastic bag holding some box-like shapes in one hand, and his tennis racket bag in the other.

Even so, seeing those gentle eyes and placid features dampened his emotions a bit, so he opened the door with a kind of muttered "Hey".

A little more friendly "Hey" was returned. A smile adorned the raven head's face, but a little concern was clearly mixed into it.

"I noticed you looked a little flushed today, and was worried, so I thought I'd visit..." His eyes darted nervously to the side, and Eiji felt his brain dull at the unmentioned bush-involved incident by the faucets. "It'd be pretty hard on the team if you got sick, with Nationals coming up," he added.

The red head sighed, trying to calm down. He knew Oishi would never do anything with Fuji, and his jealous irritation was more due to the fact that Oishi always cared... about everything. And anyone. And Eiji wanted those dark chestnut eyes all to himself.

After the new comer removed his shoes, the two made their way to Eij's room that they were both so familiar with. No one else was home, but it seemed unnatural to stay downstairs, considering how many times Oishi had come over before. After all, the living room was for guests.

Oishi was family.

Eiji tried to settle down, but his skin still felt cold and on edge, even when surrounded by his favorite teddy bears. Certain thoughts echoed over and over again in his mind, like a scratched cd the car player couldn't handle.

"I wonder... I wonder if you would do this for everyone."

Oishi looked up inquisitively, setting the plastic bags on the small lamp stand table. "Of course I would." He sounded puzzled, like he wasn't sure what sort of answer was expected of him.

He certainly didn't know that he had answered wrong.

Eiji's thoughts were on target - Oishi was oblivious to how his partner felt about him. And here he thought Oishi was all understanding, all considerate, all gentle-

"Eiji, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you."

There! He really _didn't_ understand! The irritation relapsed in a wave worthy of a tsunami, increasing the ba-bum, ba-bum clamor that seemed to have come out of the walls. Like Eiji could actually say it, could actually mold his lips into the shapes they'd need to take in order to say...

"Lately, I've been thinking that-"

Why couldn't he stop talking?! Eiji knew this voice - it was the voice Oishi used when concerned about any of his teammates. _Any_ of them. Eiji wasn't special at all. Why didn't, why didn't,

"Why don't you get it?!"

"E-eiji," Oishi seemed taken aback by the redhead's sudden outburst. A couple of blinks confirmed his uncertainty.

"Tha-that is... why'd you have to come over anyways..." _I didn't want to see you right now... I wanted time to sort out my feelings..._

A deep frown came with the words, "What's going on? Did something happen at school? Eiji what's wrong with you lately?"

How could he not understand?! Oishi supposedly understood everything!

At that moment, something inside him burst, like a helium balloon that suddenly came across a tiny choleric flame.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?! You just don't understand me at all!"

"Eiji! Can't you see I'm just worried about you?!"

"Yeah! You worry about everyone!" the red-head screamed. "All you ever do is worry!"

"I'm just trying to prevent something terrible from happening! It's only natural to worry; bad things happen and we have to do what we can to avoid them."

"But what will worrying change? I never asked you to worry about me! Why don't you just leave me alone? It's none of your business if I get sick or am nervous or whatever!" _All you have to do is be near me when I need you, and understand me. Why is that so hard?!_

"Of course it's my business! I have to take care of the team while Tezuka's away, I made a certain promise that I intend to keep."

"Is that what this is all about? The team? And here I thought you cared about _me_. Or maybe you just wanna act concerned so as to keep together the all-important National level Golden Pair."

"Of course I care about you, we've known each other for three years and even if we weren't double partners I-"

"Oh just go away already!" His stomach hurt and the tips of his fingers felt raw from clawing earlier. Being so close to the person who drove his emotions crazy from the very start of the morning was vexing to say the least, and he felt like ripping up a pillow.

But his backtalk caused a second balloon to burst, this time inside the other member of the Golden Pair.

"Eij, how can you be so selfish?! You're always like this, like that time against Rikkaidai, you never listen to me when it's most important!"

"I knew you'd bring tennis into this! It's like that's all you know! You're so stupid, Oishi!" _Don't you ever think about my feelings?_

"Who's stupid?! I'm not the one who has to skip practice sometimes to take make-up tests to keep from failing!"

Sure, they were dragging this all over the place, but it was not like they had a goal, anyway. Being irritated with one another, all the petty, negative quirks that each had never noticed about the other became excruciatingly obvious.

"Sorry I'm not a genius like Tezuka and Fuji! Sorry I have a _life_ besides school and tennis, and don't study every minute we're not at practice!"

"Are you saying I'm a fool for trying to get ahead?! This is the _real world_ Eiji, not some place for children to spend all day running around and showing off with acrobatic tricks! We have to grow up some time!"

" _You're_ the one who always treats me like a child! And now you're saying I should be like an adult? I'm sick of you patronizing me!"

"I've never done that! All I've ever tried to do was support you in tennis, as your doubles partner!"

"Heh, some partner! Everyone knows I'm the main dish of the Golden Pair! And that you're the weakest out of all the regulars!"

The room suddenly jolted into silence, thrown into the wake of cataclysm. Eiji knew he'd gone beyond into what he should have never said, but he was too angry to care.

Oishi's mouth shut abruptly, his lips curling downwards into a thin, taught line. His pupils had shrunk and his forehead wrinkled inward in a cold, angry shock. He stood, slowly and deliberately, as the air around the room stood still, frozen by the chill of his countenance. He turned away, opened the door, and walked out, pulling the door harshly behind him, almost slamming it against the frame. Eiji could hear heavy footsteps walking steadily and methodically through the hallway and down the stairs, hardly faded before a second door was opened and slammed closed.

The fury expressed in the redhead's eyes and pushed out lips had not diminished. Suddenly noticing the plastic grocery bag still left on the table, Eiji shouted angrily to the empty hallway, "YOU FORGOT YOUR BAG-"

But as he swept up his hand to catch the plastic handles, his palm caught on the top corner of the boxes inside, pushing the already-precariously placed package out onto the floor. Spots of red swept out over the carpet, rolling outwardly or piling on top of each other.

Dozens of strawberries lay ruined before him.


	6. Share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Sempai" means "upperclassman" in Japanese. It's used either as a title or suffix. 
> 
> So Ryouma calls Eiji, "Eiji-sempai", or he may just say "Sempai" to call him or refer to him.
> 
> "Mm" and "Un" are both positive replies, like "okay".

_You, you're so cute_

_Love you_

_And I'll share my pillow too_

_With you never blue_

_Forgive everything you do_

* * *

Even though it had been nearly twenty minutes since he left the Kikumaru home, his right fist was still slightly shaking. Trying to vent the anger into the suddenly too-warm air, he took large, gasping breaths with speed that accompanied his loudly pounding heart. Everything seemed too hot and too noisy.

He had left - just like that, without resolving anything, without learning anything, without showing Eiji the strawberries he'd bought. _Crap_ , he thought, just now realizing he'd left them there, but it didn't really matter since he wouldn't have eaten them by himself anyways.

Eiji's last accusation had been the final straw.

_"You're the weakest out of all the regulars!"_

As if receiving a static shock, the memory caused him to wince, more at his partner's tone of voice than the words themselves. Being perfectly aware of his own deficiencies, he had once discussed with Tezuka that in terms of technique, with only his Moon Volley and especially compared to stroke specialists like Ryouma and Kaido, he generally lost to the other regulars - in singles. But when looking in terms of support and inter coordination, he excelled far beyond anyone else at Seigaku as their number one double's player. And considering the . . . pathetic (he had to say it) abilities the other regulars had in doubles that was plenty satisfactory. He had always naturally worked behind anyone before him, even the extremely unpredictable bends of a certain red-haired acrobat.

_Eiji. Why... ?_

So he had not really left because of what Eiji had said. Rather, he became aware that in the flurry of heated emotion, if he hadn't left right then, he would have said something absolutely unforgivable, something that could not be taken back, the way his partner practically had.

He had gone over just to check that his partner was alright, and then they had ended up yelling at each other. Something seemed amiss - well, something was obviously amiss, but he'd been so caught up in the zealous mood of the fight that the logical part of his mind had just... stopped.

Now he needed to get it working.

After a time, his thoughts began to wander through the conversation, and soon he was going through the lines over and over again in his head. Something kept drawing him back to what Eiji had said at the beginning . . .

_"You just don't understand me at all!"_

He'd been so caught up in thinking the problem was something physical, that it hadn't even occurred to him it might be something psychological.

Psyche. Understanding the mind. Somehow, it seemed like something Inui or Tezuka would be better at. But Kikumaru Eiji was supposed to be Oishi's specialty...

Eiji, eating three scoops of ice cream. Eiji, with pink creamy stains all over his face. Eiji, blowing boba through a straw. Eiji, gleefully watching clouds and making them into shapes. Eiji, struggling to overcome his fatigue when they played St. Rudolf and Rokkaku. Eiji, cooing at the starry sky, eyes sparkling with amazement and wonder at the opening universe. Eiji, playing besides him on the court. Eiji, walking besides him. Eiji, laughing.

. . . Eiji. A carefree abyss of innocence. One who leaped ahead beyond the limitations of the world. Or so it had seemed.

Maybe he had understood the acrobatic player all wrong? He had come to see the red head as being like a free bird, able to fly and escape anything. But perhaps that was totally wrong. Perhaps in fact, Eiji was just a normal fourteen year old boy. Normal.

Normal? _Of course_ he was normal! Oishi felt shocked that he had been thinking otherwise. This whole time, casting a shell around his partner as an energetic, carefree alley cat when in fact Eiji worried and had sorrows and difficulties just like anyone else. He just didn't get caught up in them the way most people did, the way Oishi too often did. Eiji had his problems, but he dealt with them by remaining cheerful.

Why hadn't he realized it sooner? Why had he assumed a blushing Eiji meant a sick Eiji? What feelings of the redhead had he so ignorantly trampled on that had caused his partner to scream-

"Oishi!"

Shot out from his thoughts, he glanced up from the ground he hadn't realized he'd been staring up, to see a pair of worried cerulean eyes looking back to him. Behind the tennis tensai, a taller studier brunette with a usually stoic countenance also seemed uncharacteristically concerned, the captain's mouth having dropped open a little. A vague thought of, 'how'd I run into them', mixed in with all the other muddled ones.

"Oishi, what's wrong?!" Fuji's voice sounded unusually high.

"Eh?"

"Why are you crying?"

". . . eh?"

As his hand drew curiously towards the edge of his cheek, the tips of his fingers encountered a hot, foreign moisture streaming from . . . from his eyes. Suddenly, the tears and his mind entered reality hand in hand, and despite the two spread out palms he used to try to cover his face, the crying didn't stop. He stood beneath the pale afternoon sky and wept.

* * *

"Eiji-sempai, I'm happy you called me over to play tennis," said a tall, spiky haired boy; but the twitch in his half-lidded purple eyes showed something other than happiness - "but what are _they_ doing here as well?!" He beckoned to the other side of the street tennis court, where two figures loomed with equal anticipation.

"Oh, Momo!" The bouncy redhead came up cheerfully besides the sturdy youth. "Thanks for coming!" His eyes followed his kohai's motion towards the opposing youths, one who seemed to return the look through shimmering dubious glasses, and one who simply hissed and bent even closer to the ground. "Yay, Kaido and Inui came too!"

"Well, you're the one who called us..." mumbled the data tennis player, scribbling rapidly in that abominable notebook as usual. But he seemed distracted by something else.

"What's this all about, Sempai?" came the deep, rough voice of the bent-over player, his green bandana seeming a little ruffled for some reason.

"Hoi hoi!" Eiji beamed mischievously, though he really wasn't planning anything. He gave a good pause to see if he could rouse up any more panic from the younger players, then proclaimed, "Let's play a match! Me and Momo against Inui and Kaido!"

"Hoooo," smirking interest smuggled into Momo's voice, "Well, I don't know what the occasion is, but I guess it can't hurt to give that baka-mamushi another creaming-"

" _Who's_ gonna get creamed?!" The bandana youth hissed, "Inui-sempai, let's show this pineapple-head idiot how to play tennis."

"Un." The tall spectacled youth had been unusually lacking in comments.

Game start. "Kikumaru-Momoshiro pair, to serve!"

Soon the tennis ball had taken flight, darting back and forth across the court, both sides filled with the overpowering spirits that made them Seigaku regulars. 15-love, 15-all, 40-15, then Kaido went in for the kill, his boomerang snake sneaking rapidly around the left pole, only to be thwarted by a well-placed jack knife.

"Oh! Nice play Momo!" Overflowing with eagerness, the redhead also began to take out playful yet lethal shots, leaping up over two meters into the air to catch a seemingly impossible volley courtesy of the data-reliant opponent.

It was one of Inui's relatively few attacks, the spectacled man unusually temperate in today's play. He'd been mumbling to himself for a while, eyebrows crinkled into a V, leaving his irritable partner dashing wildly about the court to cover most of the balls.

On the other hand, Eiji felt better than he had for the last week. His body was extraordinarily light today, allowing him to make all sorts of jumps and bends. Air flowed tightly against his face, rippling back his hair and clothing, as he caught another of Kaido's looming snake shots with his bent back hand. He didn't know why, but he didn't feel the least bit tired.

"Game, Eiji and Momo! 4 games to 3. Change court!" (A/N: who's refereeing?)

Practically skipping to the other side of the court, Eiji felt his underclassman's purple eyes boring curiously into him. Normally a mischievous twinkle would enter into his eyes, but he gave up on the usual torture and asked:

"Hey Momo, have you ever seen Oishi look... _not_ worried?"

Momo frowned, obviously caught off guard; he had been wondering why the acrobat had not called for his usual doubles partner but the question wasn't giving anything away.

"Well of course I've seen Oishi-sempai not look worried. One can't worry all the time, one can't. ...I mean, there was the time when...um..." Wrinkles began to crease across his forehead. "The time when..." Soon a giant sweatdrop hung like an ornament against his cheek. "Well, even if I can't remember a time, I'm sure there is one. Ask Inui."

Eiji smiled. _Yes, there was a time. That time, I definitely saw it._ The worried Oishi, the smiling Oishi, the gentle Oishi, the fervent Oishi - Eiji had seen so many sides of his doubles partner, and had shared in those experiences with the team in their triumphs and defeats. But the innocent, jubilant Oishi he had seen that one night, under the stars... he could never forget it. The Oishi that only he knew.

And he had yelled at Oishi, and said horribly cruel things.

Yet the thoughts didn't distract him. Actually, his body seemed to get even more flexible (if that was possible) as he gave a sudden dash then was up in the air with a devastating Kikumaru beam. Inui managed to predict this one, but couldn't seem to catch the right angle as soon his side was crushed by Momo's most powerful form of Dunk Smash.

"Sorry Kaido," he managed to say through somewhat heavy breathing. "The data today was 4 percent less accurate, with an increased error margin of almost 6 percent. Today's Golden Pair has been..." He tried to think of a more scientific word, but it didn't come. "...strange. And with Oishi not present, Eiji's performance should have dropped by 18 percent, but instead has remained at peak-form levels."

His snake-like partner only hissed incredulously, tiny black pupils examining the data man but remaining without comment.

"Hm... perhaps it is _that_."

A melodramatic pause followed Inui's suspicious emphasis.

"Inui-sempai..." The second year's curiosity overcame his inner voice's warning, his lips pushing out into their usual pucker. "What is 'that'?"

An eerie smile shaped like a lingering crescent moon glowed on his sempai's suddenly darkened face, and a suspicious glint flew off from those rectangular glasses. "Remind me to show you sometime."

Slightly shivering, Kaido made a mental note: always listen to inner voice.

The game continued, with Inui's speed serves helping to make somewhat of a comeback. Kaido's indefatigable snake shots sent his spiky haired rival waltzing clumsily around the court, but Eiji's superior experience allowed him to be a considerable support.

Eventually the winner was clear, with Momo-Eiji pair (full names had pretty much been ignored after the initial announcement) winning 7 games to 5. A panting Momo and Kaido fell back against the hard cement, both sweating tremendously, though more energy had been wasted on exchanged insults than racket swings. Even Inui found himself leaned over, resting his hands on his partially bent knees and breathing roughly.

Eiji, on the other hand, stood to the side looking thoughtful, with one hand on his hip and the other fingering his chin, energy apparently untouched.

"...Eiji..pant...sempai...why ..pant.. are you ..pant ..the only one.. cough ..not tired?"

But the acrobatic player didn't answer, nor even indicate that the question had registered. He just slung his racket-packed bag back over his shoulder and began to walk off, though his underclassman thought he heard the words, "Yup, it's not Oishi."

* * *

"It's about Eiji, right?"

"Huh?"

He had cried for nearly twenty minutes, but the two had waited patiently before him. They somehow knew that words weren't the always best medicine; Oishi just needed to let it all out. Finally the flow of hot stars had drizzled away and left an empty grail of calm at the bottom of his chest.

Fuji smiled warmly. "Don't worry too much about it. Eiji's just PMSing right now."

Tezuka chortled, rolling his eyes coldly. "Boys can't PMS."

"Yes they can!"

"No, they can't." His tone implied, end-of-story.

" ... you do all the time."

"Fuji!"

The tensai laughed teasingly and peaked open his eyes. "Did we cheer you up a little?"

"Eh." Oishi felt relief wash through him. He hadn't meant to laugh, but the small interaction had brought out a tiny chuckle.

"Well, like I said, don't worry about Eiji, he'll be fine." His finger playfully poked at stoic captain's glasses. "Now Tezuka and I shall continue on our date" - an iron glare tried to burn through those glasses, but lost some of it's effectiveness due to the blush that came with it- "and I suggest you head home. I'm sure you'll be wanted there soon."

Oishi would have puzzled over this, if he wasn't so busy feeling amused at the not-so-Freudian slip the tensai was obviously not supposed to give out. Though he guessed from the racket bags slung over each's backs the 'date' was actually just a trip to the train-side court. He knew the two would only play against each other in private, away from the prying eyes at school and especially a certain green notebook.

After a tiny wave good bye, he turned back sighing to his own thoughts. He hadn't even realized how much anger he still had to let out, but now he felt considerably calmer.

The sky began to split into its dying colors, cooing fuchsias and magentas striking out across a few scattered clouds. To the east stars had already begun to take their places, ready to fulfill their ancient roles as guide to sailors and travelers alike. Yet the modern world had replaced their purpose with its satellites and cell phones and mapquest. Still, Oishi felt that today's technology had done nothing to help guide feelings. Despite mankind's thousands of years of existence, nothing that had been manufactured could outdo the tiny twinklets when it came to guiding the human heart.

Walking on the evening's path, between the western setting sun and the eastern rising stars, he felt like he was going somewhere he needed to be, yet he was going nowhere in particular.

Then all of a sudden his reverie broke as he clashed with another heavy body, knocking the other traveler roughly to the ground.

"Ouch!" A familiar young voice cried, full of indignance.

"Echizen!" Oishi cried in surprise, "I'm so sorry!" He seemed to be running into everyone today (this time quite literally).

"Watch where you're going!" Angry golden eyes leered warily at him, but those tiny puffed up cheeks made him look more like a chipmunk. Oishi felt guilty for not feeling guilty but instead feeling amused.

"Sorry, sorry Echizen, I wasn't paying attention."

His kohai gave him a look of 'well duh' then accepted the outstretched hand that helped pull him up.

"Really, it was an accident. ... I was thinking about something, I'm sorry..."

"Che. Stop apologizing, it's annoying," the boy snapped.

"O-okay."

He thought he heard a mumbled, '...at this rate, one or the other's gonna kill me...'

"O-oh yeah! I heard in school you fainted, are you alright?"

An increasingly irritated glare stated 'don't ask'. Then the freshman replied, "You look in worse shape then me, sempai."

"A .. oh." His curled index finger rubbed at his upper cheeks embarrassingly, realizing how red and puffed up they must have looked.

He recalled that he had been crying, and in front of his captain no less. That had been about... oh yeah, he had noticed that Eiji was normal. It seemed... stupid to think otherwise now - after all, weren't most people normal? He'd already known the redhead was no saint, nor was he some mentally twisted criminal, which kind of left him in the middle with everyone else - normal.

"So- sorry." He brushed away the trace of tears he realized had appeared. "I just... suddenly realized that Eiji was human. ...I mean..."

"Pft. Of course Eiji-sempai's human. What did you think he was, a cat?"

"Of course not, I-" Wait a second. Maybe he really had thought Eiji was a cat. The way his mouth molded into an O of surprise or a V of unhappiness, the way his eyes would slit mischievously when pouncing on a chance to tease his kohai, the way he leaped around the court and always landed on his feet, all had always seemed to perfectly mimic a cat from Oishi's point of view. But even so, Eiji was still human. Human. Oishi drilled the word into his brain.

"I guess . . . If Eiji was a cat, he'd be a stray." _He'd do as he please, nap as he'd please, eat as he'd please, go wherever he wanted to._

"Hmph, mada mada dane. If Eiji was a cat, you'd be his owner."

Startled by the freshman's starkness, Oishi took a tiny step back. "O-oh." Heat rose mockingly into his cheeks. "Well... I guess I do try to look after him. But I've never been very good with pets. I mean, I can handle fish, they're easy to feed and I just have to clean the tank once in a while, but with a cat I'd always have to be attentive and pet him and make sure he doesn't claw up the furniture-" What was he rambling about? But for some reason he felt stuttery and nervous, and it made him talk fast without thinking. Even his heartbeat seemed to notch up its pace.

"Geez Sempai, you worry too much, and sometimes over the wrong things."

Oishi frowned. _The wrong things._ He could see the logic in that. In certain ways, his worrying was somewhat superficial. When it came to mundane things, like being injured in tennis, or getting lost during a hiking trip, he was typically very precautious. His personality naturally required him to be considerate of other people's feelings and property. Don't cuss, don't be selfish, don't shoot boba at cars - his practical compliance to social regulations was part of what helped him nurture his reputation as the mother of Seigaku. His concerns were mostly what had been taught at the rudimentary level, about being nice to others and sharing.

A deep sigh drifted away with the wind. He couldn't change his personality, just as he couldn't change the feelings of adoration he held for his partner. Yet despite those feelings, he completely misinterpreted everything about the one he claimed to love so much. A heavy misery settled painfully over his nerves.

"Eiji was right to say I didn't understand anything. I wonder... " _if I still have the right to be next to him._

"Hm..." Echizen's lips curled into the smirk his teammates had struggled to grow accustom to and that his opponents loathed. He was inwardly pleased with himself, not that he'd show it. Seigaku's oh-so-tender mother was unexpectedly lacking in the understanding love department, while the youngest regular had cups of bitter medicine to supply.

"Isn't everything up to now just fine? It's not like we're really divided into the id, ego, and super ego, you know, that's just a stupid theory." He shrugged. "Besides, it's not like the Eiji you're used to isn't the real Eiji, right? Sempai's just like that naturally." An amused smirk sparked out across his face. "He's too crappy of an actor to only pretend he's cheerful. I mean, everything you already know about him, that's still all Eiji right?"

The youngster snorted, then turned with a shrug and walked away. Giving one last wave, he called, "But if you _want_ to feel miserable, then it doesn't matter to me. Jya."

Oishi watched him go, wondering if it was really okay to bloat the freshman's ego by letting him have the last word. Well, it probably couldn't get any bigger. But he felt a little better, like he'd been given a hard pinch to ward off a headache.

Self-pity. The innate gnawing monster. Surely he hadn't been caught by that. But if things didn't change, than maybe...

But he didn't know what to do. He'd never fought with anyone the way he had today with Eiji. With no past experiences to rely on, and no script called What To Do In Life, all he could do was helplessly sink into a cocooning depression.

* * *

Eiji wasn't sure why he'd gone to play tennis. At first, he'd sat immovable on his bedroom's carpet, still slightly infuriated, but at the same time feeling stunned by the site of all the crushed strawberries. A small voice that sounded eerily like Oishi's told him he needed to hurry and clean them up before they left stains.

Then, all his feelings just sort of melted into this... calm. Like all his nerves had reached a maximum and then burnt out. He couldn't think of what he needed to do, and in the end just went with what he felt the most familiar with - tennis. He'd dialed the three numbers that seemed to fit the situation the most, and for some reason, Fuji's wasn't one of them. Maybe he didn't want anyone around who could read him or would try to figure him out; he just wanted to play.

It felt great, letting everything out, relaxing in his favorite activity, bouncing up and performing the acrobatics he liked so much.

But now the drawn-out endorphins were beginning to wear off, and memories of earlier began to drift back towards his mind. He'd come to simply wander around, not minding if he got lost, until he came to a wonderfully nostalgic wooden sign.

From the entrance beneath it, an enticing scent of fish and vinegar came drifting to his nose, perking up the tumbly feeling he'd had in his stomach from skipping lunch. He could hear customers rowdily calling out new orders and bellowing crude drinking songs. A tall, stocky boy with a twisted white cloth circled around light brownish hair was moving enormous wooden bins from what looked like a back storage room to a large transportation truck.

"Oi, Taka-san!" The red-head called enthusiastically, waving brightly at the familiar figure.

"Oh, hey Eiji," the youth he addressed gave a cordial smile, "What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to get lost. Those look heavy, can I help?"

"Un. They're empty now, but in the morning they'll be filled with fish."

Using his entire arms, Eiji lifted one of the smooth looking boxes with a little caution, but found that it wasn't really heavy, just bulky.

"Say, Eiji..."

"Hoi?"

"Are you alright? You seemed kinda dazed...this morning at practice."

Eiji's feet stopped moving for a second, trying to bring morning practice into focus. It seemed so far away, like something that happened a lifetime ago.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Um... if you wanna talk about it, you can. ... I know we've never really talked that much, and I mean, you'd probably rather talk to Oishi about it than me, but-" he shrugged, "if you need ears, you have mine."

A little smile pranced on Eiji's face, his lids falling a little over his eyes with mixed happiness and sadness. Though pleasured by his friend's openness, he still felt a little pained by the ugly hole he knew he'd dug for himself. He'd kind of avoided thinking about it up until now.

"Lately..." he began, but then he couldn't think of what to say.

"Hey, Taka-san, have you ever... been in love?"

He'd expected the power player to be a bit more startled, but Taka just smiled with his usual kindness, though his eyes looked a little sad.

"Un."

They didn't say anything for while, focusing on moving the large boxes back and forth, stacking them efficiently to pack in as many as they could, and so they wouldn't fall over when the truck moved.

"I..." Taka started, slight shy as he always was without a racket. "I was... I had someone important to me.. have someone... well, I'm not quite over it yet. I mean, I am over it, but there are still some small feelings...I guess I can't forget that easily." He shook his head, as if to remind himself of something.

"Was it..." Eiji started, then fell silent in courtesy. He knew some paths should not be tread.

But Taka's smile only grew more gentle, and his eyes folded in the manner of Duchenne. "Fuji," he filled in.

Silence again. It was a quiet considerance, really. But it lasted for only a moment, then Taka said, "Eiji, are you in love with Oishi?"

Surprisingly Eiji found that he wasn't really startled either. Something about the cold, quiet night kept them calm, as if some celestial hand was mothering them with gentle pets, soothing their tremulous hearts with breezy whispers.

"Un."

Had Taka-san always been this understanding? Eiji wished he'd known sooner, then they could have become friends - close friends - long ago, not now when they were already reaching the peak of their third year. The tall youth waited for Eiji to continue.

"Though, I guess I only realized that that was it - that, it, was love - just today. Just now, maybe even."

For a fluttering second the redhead's smile grew, then quickly faded to a depressed frown.

"I," he felt a little teary, "I yelled at him. I said really horrible, mean things. I wanted to tell him.. the truth...but it just... it came out all the opposite." He stopped as he bit hard on his lip, using the small pain to jar away the droplets that were threatening to fall.

A warm hand gripped supportively on his shoulder. "It's okay if you want to cry."

Eiji shook his head defiantly. "No, I started it. It's my fault. I kept thinking that Oishi would understand, that he would know what I was trying to say, even though I kept saying so many nasty things... I'm so stupid."

Taka-san seemed thoughtful, his gaze turning towards the peaking stars that were slowly sneaking into the sky.

"I think... well, I guess... If you don't share your thoughts with him, then how can he know how you feel? I mean... Oishi, you know, he's one of the most understanding people on the team, but even he can't read minds. No one can - not even Fuji. Like, you can guess at what other people are thinking, from the way they act and their expressions and all, but as for what's actually in our brains... the only one who knows is you, right? So... you have to clearly say it. Otherwise, you'll regret it."

Another box was plopped into the truck's space by the acrobat, who puffed air into his cheeks a little bit in thought.

"Un. What about you? Have you ever said anything to Fuji?"

Taka shook his head. "It's not like that. Hehe, I must seem hypocritical. Nah, it's just that Fuji isn't meant for me, and I know it. I'm not right for him either, not at all. And... now he has Tezuka."

He nodded, sadly but confidently, and Eiji realized this was something he'd decided a long time ago.

"It's alright. I've accepted it, truly I have."

Eiji tilted his head to the side, eyes asking, 'is it really okay?' but voice nulled by respect.

"I think," he pitched in, going with the mood, "it's a little different for me and Oishi. In a lot of things, Oishi's always there next to me, and not just in tennis. It's like he's naturally just supposed to be there. He does things for me, and I do things for him. We like to lean on each other, though this time maybe we leaned a little too much."

"Un, I think so too. You guys match." He helped Eiji fit a box into the last space at the top of the corner. "It's different with Fuji. Fuji is strong, but he needs someone to take care of him. Tezuka is the only one strong enough to do that."

Eiji nodded in understanding. It sometimes surprised people after seeing Fuji's strength to learn he wasn't his school's number one, that an even stronger monster ruled over Seigaku. Eiji suddenly wondered if the whole affair had something to do with Taka-san's quitting tennis.

"Oishi.. Oishi takes care of me." His voice dwindled to a wistful mumble. "Sometimes, when I'm with friends, or out to play, I get so excited, I become really giddy and bubbly and my head kind of empties out. I run and jump and move on all these cheerful instincts, and I kind of stop thinking." He paused, a thoughtful index finger pressing against his chin. "Actually, I guess I don't think very much at all, hehehe." His playful smile twirled out against the cooling winds.

"Hm..." Taka returned the grin. "You seem pretty serious this evening, though. You must have really thought about all this."

"Really?!" A bright mien filled the redhead, his hands clapped together in gleeful anticipation.

"U...un."

"Yatta!" An ecstatic beam broke into the night, his whole body launched into the air. "Ah, I mean... ah, heheheh, yeah! Now Oishi will like me better!"

"Oh?" The tall youth raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But Oishi seems to like you enough already."

Eiji shook his head. "That can't be right. Oishi is so mature and serious! He just looks after me cause I'm like a kid."

"Oh no, that's not it at all. Oishi likes your cheerfulness. It's the part of you that he probably likes best, because he's not like that at all. You know what they say, opposites attract." Setting down the next box with a thud, the honey brunette chuckled, suddenly feeling warmed by the acrobat's energy. "Oishi couldn't like you any more than he already does! And I'm sure he doesn't see you as a child, but as a friend."

Eiji's hands formed tiny fists, and he wiggled them up and down excitedly like he'd just got tickets to the World Tennis Cup, his face sparkling with an enormously happy smile that forced his eyes into jubilant slits. Taka's smile also broadened, feeling some of that happiness channel into him, and he felt like laughing.

"Yay! Okay okay, I'm going to go see Oishi, and apologize to him." He brought both fists in front of him, and gave a little hop of resolve.

Taka laughed heartily, fitting in the last box and drawing down the heavy back door.

"Hey, come tomorrow and I'll give you some free sushi!" He knocked the truck's metal door with the back of his hand. "As thanks for helping."

"Yay!" Eiji paused for a second, then beamed merrily and added, "I'll bring Oishi!"

Taka-san's small nod said, 'I'll be expecting you' and then Eiji took off. He first hurried home, and grabbed a green flamboyant gift bag he'd been saving for April. Then he practically ran to the next place he needed to go. Stopping abruptly and almost hesitantly before the familiar oak door, he took a deep breath and glanced at the plaque that read OISHI above a tiny glowing button. Extending one lonely index finger, his hand slowly crept towards that tiny light, until his fingertip's skin brushed against the ice-cold metal. He pressed it inwards.


	7. And we headed to the sky

_Asked if I liked to fly_

_Then you took me on a drive_

_And we headed to the sky_

* * *

He just couldn't seem to make himself smile. The sides of his mouth would droop further and further down, becoming heavier with each slow second. His heart felt damp, as if a muzzle forced it silent. Something black was wrapped around any sort of happy emotions, something like the black sky he stared mournfully out at. His eyes seemed to shift over the speckled stars, blurring them together and away until his vision could only see the darkness that he felt.

Oishi knew he shouldn't wallow in depression. But it wouldn't go away. Thinking over and over again about Eiji, about how they had yelled at each other, about what Eiji had said, about what he had failed to realize, his chest seemed to grow excruciatingly tight. He felt like a failure, like he had somehow betrayed his partner by not understanding him. Even now, he couldn't figure out what had made the redhead so jittery in the morning then so agonized in the afternoon. 

**Jing-Jing-Jing.**

Glancing at his clock, he wondered wearily who could possible be ringing the doorbell at one in the morning. Then he realized he was probably the only one in his family still awake, so he tottered down the hallway, hoping to make it before a second ring came and woke up his parents.

**Ding-Ju-Jing-Ding.**

Too late. He sighed and shook his head; he'd had a feeling a second jingle would come seconds within the first, since Eiji liked to play with the doorbell that made different rings each time you pressed it-

_Eiji!_ His breath suddenly rasped out in panic. _It- It can't be!_

But a tiny star had reappeared in the vast darkness that he saw as the sky. A tiny light of hope.

_But Eiji was so mad at me..._

But through the peephole he could already see his deepest wish was fidgeting nervously in the cold, arms crossed and hugging the body they belonged to. One of the redhead's hands seemed to be carrying something, but Oishi couldn't tell what, though a bitterly comical flash that his partner was hiding a giant mallet to punish him with shifted swiftly through his imagination-

He opened the door.

"He-hey Eiji. Come in," he added, trying to maintain his demeanor despite the cold that bit his hands and the heat that licked his cheeks...

But the redhead's feet didn't move. Instead, Eiji deeply bowed his head, reddish locks tumbling over his face, making his expression impossible to see. 

"Oishi... sorry."

_Sorry._

Could it be? 

Was he... forgiven? 

No. Perhaps he'd only fallen asleep, and was dreaming that all he wanted to happen came true. That Eiji would want to speak to me again.

Beneath his eyes the skin sunk in a little, begging for sleep. His countenance was one of nervousness and discomfort, eyebrows knitted together and forehead wrinkling with stress.

_Oishi doesn't look very happy,_ Eiji thought.

His thumbs seemed to find more joy in fidgeting with each other than in moving towards the warm house. Uncertainty seemed to chain his legs and feet, making it impossible for him to move.

_But Oishi likes the cheerful me... I have to try to be cheerful!_

He gathered up his courage and forced himself to take the first step.

_. . . because it's all my fault._

One leg, and then the other, and then the other, until he finally made it inside the house. Oishi closed the front door quietly behind him, facing away from the acrobat who also seemed incredibly preoccupied with undoing his shoes.

"... Oishi, really, I- I-"

"I-" began Oishi, also struggling to say the words they both were searching for-

"I'm sorry!" 

They said it both at once, in doubles pair unison, with the same tone of voice and the same timing. Even their rising pitch and emphasize on the syllable 'sor' was the same.

"Oh, but that is-" They both blushed furiously and looked down to the ground, since their words and voices still perfectly matched.

". . ."

Right now the night didn't seem silent at all - a high pitched ringing seemed to pierce through both of them, maintaining a constant electronic whine.

"I'm sorry, Oishi." Eiji took the initiative, going towards the front in his favorite net play.

"I'm sorry too, Eiji." Oishi was barely a step behind, supporting him and catching whatever the acrobat let slip through.

They didn't say what they were sorry about, or even if they had forgiven the other, or had merely forgotten. Whatever had been said before had all been taken back, so it didn't matter anymore. Or at least that's how they felt for the moment.

"Oishi, um, this..." From behind his back Eiji pulled out a colorful gift bag, overflowing with light green tissue paper. 

Oishi blinked emptily, as if to say, _but we already gave our apologies._

"Oh, this isn't a sorry, or anything! It's a return gift for the strawberries." His beaming smile and twinkling eyes held even more anticipation than the gift's receiver.

The raven head worked his hands inside, careful not to let too much of the jumbled up tissues fall, and pulled out...

"Jyajyan!" Eiji swung his arms up in excitement, his face glowering brightly for the first time that night. "Oishi and Eiji plushies purchased on Ebay!!"

Oishi stopped for a second, examining at the two dolls in his hands. There was something... _strange_ about the whole thing, but at the time he couldn't think about what it was, and he was just too happy that Eiji had accepted his apology.

Then a low rumble sent them both blinking.

"Ehehe," Blushing and scratched his head shyly, Eiji tried to hold down his stomach from making any more noise. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, so my tummy's making fun of me."

Oishi smiled and led them to the kitchen, pulling open one of the dark wooden cabinets to get a plastic blue bowl with Disney characters lined around it. Eiji had already picked out Honey Nut Cheerios amongst the cereals and readied milk and a spoon so they put them together for a make-shift snack. 

While musingly eyeing his red-haired partner shovel heaps of circular bits so rapidly into his mouth he almost choked, Oishi rearranged some of the kitchen appliances and tidied up a little what his family had left after dinner, setting the two plushies above the refrigerator. A strange relief was pouring over him, like warm water in the shower after a cold night. He hadn't come any closer to understanding what had happened that day, but a small whisper said it didn't matter, that things would work themselves out.

A sigh of nostalgic amusement slipped out of his throat when he noticed the milk stains splashed all around Eiji's mouth and one tiny broken cheerio that'd missed it's mark and instead stuck itself a bit above the acrobat's chin.

Grabbing a napkin, he marked his partner's attention by saying, "Here" and pulled the redhead's face towards him by placing two fingers beneath his chin. Eiji gave him a 'nya' face and lowered his eye lids a little but stayed obediently still as Oishi carefully wiped off the cereal piece and most of the milk.

"Nya, Oishi's always taking care of me like this. So would you do this for anyone?" A question asked so innocently.

Oishi missed or ignored any ulterior connotations. "I guess I would. But no one else eats so sloppy that they'd get food all over their face, so the only one who ever needs me to is Eiji."

"Oh." Not sure how to deal with this answer, Eiji decided to just stay cheerful. Pushing the chair back, he stood up, feeling he'd want to be standing for the next thing he had to say.

"Hey Oishi!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what I'm thinking?"

Oishi smiled and shook his head.

"Heehee," Eiji looked pleased with himself for some reason, winding his fingers together and smiling merrily. "Of course not! Oishi can't read thoughts, nya!"

He waved back and forth teasingly, his pupils looking off to the side in mock thought. "Should I do it, should I do it, nya, should I say it?"

Oishi played along, folding his arms and tapping his foot in mock impatience.

"I love you."

. . .

An embracing silence curled around the night.

Oishi wasn't sure whether to be shocked, laughing, crying, or grabbing his partner right then and there and drawing him into a full on embrace...

"I love you, too."

H-how?! How had he said it? But the words had flowed from the raven head's mouth without any sort of hesitation or control. They were just...honest.

Both stood a little too still, hearts pounding with uncertainty. _And now what..._ seemed to be on both of their minds.

"Hey Oishi, can we see your roof again? I like your roof!"

"But Eiji, it's 2 o'clock in the morning, it's freezing cold and we might- ...oh whatever, I'll go get a blanket."

He dashed off to the hallway where the linens were kept, so his partner wouldn't see the furious blush that had burst across his face and neck. He was so caught up in his own exuberant emotions that he didn't notice Eiji's entire upper body had turned red as well. He was glad they were going outside where it was cold - no, probably freezing since it was so early in the morning. But he needed to cool down. Sorting past some pillow cases and towels, he pulled out the same teddy bear blanket they'd used before along with the new one his mom had bought over the weekend, patterned with child-drawn trees and houses and smiling suns wearing sunglasses. 

Outside, Eiji helped set up the ladder and they made their way up towards the roof's brown tiles. As Oishi began arranging the blankets out to make them more comfortable, Eiji felt his kitty ears perk as he noticed his partner humming.

"Hmmm mm mm mm," the raven-head's gentle voice seemed to grace over his ear drums, bringing him a kind of peace he hadn't felt all day. 

After they'd settled in, sitting side by side with a blanket above and below, the chorus picked up.

"Oh, I know this song!" Eiji exclaimed, almost a little too loudly considering the rest of the city was asleep. "My sister's always listening to it!"

"Oh?" Oishi's head shot up in surprise, like he hadn't even been aware of his own humming.

"Yeah yeah," the acrobat continued excitedly, "It's Brownie the Cat, by um... The Bulgant..."

Oishi sweatdropped. "The Brilliant Green."

"Oh yeah, heehee, nya!" Eiji's cheerful eyes brushed off the mistake. "Lessee... it goes...

~ Never knew someone like you ~

~ With your eyes you make me smile ~

~ If you leave me I'll be blue ~

Oishi began to sing as well, adding his deep melodious voice to Eiji's high pitched one.

~ Let me stay here by your side ~

~ You always give me something new ~

Oishi paused, not sure of how the next part went, but his partner merrily went on...

~ Come, with me, Kiss me, like a gentle memory ~

~ Touch me, follow me, let me feel your love so sweet ~

Eiji paused, feeling embarrassed when he sudden noticing he was singing solo. But Oishi was back on track, so he picked up the next part -

~ Hey Brownie, forever with me ~

~ You know I love you When you look up at me With your eyes of green ~

At the last part, he couldn't help but look up into his partner's emerald eyes, feeling the lyrics penetrate not only the air but their hearts and minds as well. For him, Eiji was indeed the cat from the song, but he was also a young energetic boy who liked to bounce and be cheerful and who also worried and considered his problems with depth. Any part of Eiji he would love and accept, forever...

"Hey Oishi, do you think that things are simple?"

"Huh?"

"Things. Like, life and stuff."

"Hm....I'm not sure. I don't think that things are really all that complicated...but I'm not sure they're all that simple, either."

"Oh."

"Well I guess... I mean...does it matter?"

"... Oh, I guess it doesn't."

Eiji turned to look more closely at his doubles partner, tracing the lining of his shirt's fabric up to the round rimmed collar, then eyeing the simmering skin across his color bones, dark brown in the night's lack of light.

"I guess it doesn't matter. If we can't understand each other, if we can't read each other's thoughts... we do that in tennis, absolute coordination and all, but we don't have to do that in the rest of life right?"

Oishi smiled, slipping his arm around the redhead's shoulder, drawing him closer until his head drooped wearily against the raven head's chest. 

"Yeah. Just be here next to me, and I'll be happy. Even when we fight, even when we get so nervous it's hard for us to talk to each other, we'll work it out, at our own pace. Your mind is yours, and my mind is mine, but that doesn't matter; we can still be in love."

"Nya..." Eij's voice sounded so sleepy, mellowing down to a whisper. "Oishi's so lovey dovey..." it trailed away into a gentle rhythm of breathing.

Eiji's dreams were full of falling stars, but he didn't wish on even one of them. All his wishes had already been granted.

* * *

"Eiji! Eiji!" Shooting his eyes open wondrously, the redhead hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. Eiji tried to pull himself up, but found a gently arm pulling against him. Suddenly he noticed that he was completely snuggled against a chest and lap belonging to Oishi, who actually had both arms wrapped protectively around him. Warmth pilled up beneath the thick cotton blanket, and he could feel a faint crystalline light striking against his eyes and cheeks.

His raven haired partner peered down at him with an amused smile, shaking him gently. "The sun is rising!"

Green pupils turned out towards the eastern horizon, a clear view above the rooftops revealing the shimmering rays of gold which were driving all sorrows away. Even the national-level Golden Pair could not possibly outshine the celestial glory that was pouring out before them, calling majestically for the start of the day.

Eiji realized they must have spent the rest of the night up there, and hoped Oishi wasn't uncomfortable. He knew he probably should be feeling pretty cramped himself, having fallen asleep on a roof, but tucked next to the person he trusted most he felt warm and relaxed.

Together they watched as Apollo tugged his chariot up into the clear blue sky, and the sun covered everything in their world, the school, the cafe, the shops, the tennis courts, Oishi's roof - everything glistened with morning light.

"Hey, Oishi," his sleepy voice seemed almost lullabyish, and he nuzzled face back onto his partner's shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go together."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"Everywhere."

"Oh?"

"Anywhere. Nowhere."

Oishi smiled, and nuzzled his lips through course red hair, brushing them softly across Eiji's creamy colored forehead. "Okay."

* * *

THE END ~<3

**Author's Note:**

> Hm... I guess I lied in the notes for _Time_. THIS is the first fic I ever published, at least this chapter. Um, it has a little more plot than what you see here in the prologue. Cute, youthful fluff.


End file.
